To Border or Not to Border

...That is the question. Here is my latest scrappy quilt. I made this quilt for my business partner's daughter who is 7. She is a very ill little angel and I think she needs a quilt as soon as possible. She has just started her first round of chemo to treat leukemia and I wanted to make something very happy and bright for her. Well, this sure fits the bill, doesn't it? At any rate, what I was hoping for is some input from all you quiters out there - does this need a "calming" border, possibly a great psychedelic border, or no border at all? Why can't I decide on this one? I keep staring at it and just can't seem to come to a decision. The quilt is so far outside of my comfort zone, I think it froze me up! I am stuck, for sure. Help me out on this one. I need to get it done!

GPS Carrying Case

For Christmas my lovely husband bought me a wonderful GPS device. In many ways I believe he also bought it for himself in an effort to preserve his own sanity. See, I am admittedly terribly navigationally challenged and as a result have been known to frequently phone him and frantically demand he get me "un-lost". We have lived here in Clearwater for more than four years and I just can't seem to get a grip on the streets, etc. It became evident that if I hadn't gotten it after four years of living here, odds are I simply am not going to get it. The embarrassing thing is that I am a part owner of a real estate company and occasionally have to take clients out looking at properties. One particular afternoon still makes my face turn bright red when I think about it. I had met a client at an address and after looking at that one we were going to go looking at several other properties, with her following behind me in her car. I got so turned around while trying to get to the second one, that I just didn't know what to do. Then my phone rang, I picked it up and it was my client calling from the car behind me to tell me we had passed the same house three times. Would I like her to look at the map and see if she could help? Oh, my goodness, was I embarrassed! I pulled over, she looked at the map and offered to lead for the rest of the afternoon. It went very well.

I installed the GPS holder on my dash this past weekend, and decided it probably wasn't a good idea to leave the device mounted on my dash when I wasn't using the car. It is easy to pop in and out of the holder, so I can just bring it in the house with me when I come home. I didn't like it just laying about, and I also don't want the screen scratched so what would a good quilter do? Well, quilt a bag of course! So, I found this great paper piecing pattern with arrows on it and that seemed the natural choice. I whipped up a few blocks using my scraps (of course!) and sewed them together, quilted it and made a simple bag. I then cut up 2 very heavy pieces of plastic to divide the inside of the bag into three compartments. This allows me to slide the GPS between the two pieces of plastic, and thus offers more protective covering for the device. This way I can put the GPS in the middle and the cords on either side and everything is safe. As Martha would say, that's a very good thing.......

Boston Red Sox Quilt for My Son-In-Law

Happy New Year everyone! Here is the quilt I have been referring to as "The Secret Quilt". I was forced to call it that because my most wonderful son-in-law is a bit of a snoop. He is also very smart and given just a bit of a clue, he can run with it and before long, the puzzle is put together!

All that being said, I am thrilled with how this quilt turned out. Bonnie Hunter did the quilting, and I created the appliqued Bo Sox emblem in the center, and naturally I did all the piecing. The quilting is an all over star pantograph done entirely in white thread, so it stands out beautifully on the red and blue fabric. The backing is solid red, so there the stars really show up well. My son-in-law really loves the quilt, and I do believe that he was very surprised by the gift. It so warmed my heart to see the joy this quilt created.

The photo below has my Granddaughter looking a bit perplexed. I think she sensed that Gammie was packing up to leave New York to head back to Florida. She is the cutest thing ever, I do believe. Big sigh...I miss her. I bet she misses me right now, too.